I hope it gives you an idea of the platform and social proof you’ll need to bring to the table if you want a serious publisher to consider your proposal. I’m sharing my responses to the questionnaire in full with you here, because I know many of you would someday like to publish a book. The experience was both encouraging – seeing how many incredible experiences and assets I already have to prove my credibility – but also sobering, seeing how many things could still be improved. Even so, it was a grueling effort that took me about 3.5 full days. Most of the questions I already had existing material on, either in my notes (of course) or in blog posts I’d previously written. Completing the questionnaire helped me step out of the shoes of the writer caring for his baby, and into the shoes of a publisher creating a business model. It was a fascinating and eye-opening experience, because every question addressed the book as a business: which problems or pains it seeks to solve, who are the customers who will gladly pay for it, and which benefits it is intended to deliver to them. My first task was to fill out a “client onboarding questionnaire,” an exhaustive brain dump of everything I know and have related to the “book project.” ![]() ![]() I am working with Janet Goldstein, who worked with David Allen on his best-selling books Getting Things Done and Ready for Anything, to guide me through writing a compelling book proposal. It is the only complete document in existence for most of the publishing process, until the finalized book pops out the other end.įor that reason, I’ve decided to hire the very best. It is the calling card to any editor, agent, publisher, or publicist a writer might want to talk to. It is the starting point for all conversations and negotiations about the book. The book proposal is the lynchpin of the entire publishing value chain. I’ll try to share with you in as much detail as possible my journey, starting with my first challenge: crafting the book proposal. ![]() ![]() I previously wrote about my thought process for why and how I’ve decided to publish my book Building a Second Brain with a traditional publishing house.
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